Tuesday, March 15, 2016

One million borrowers regained equity in 2015, bringing the
total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity at the end of the
4th quarter of 2015 to approximately 46.3 million, or 91.5 % of all
mortgaged properties, according to a new CoreLogic® analysis. Nationwide, borrower equity increased
year-over-year by $682 billion in Q4 2015.

The total number of mortgaged residential properties with
negative equity (“under water”) decreased 19.1 % year over year from what it
was at the end of last year.

Interestingly, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida, had the
highest percentage of mortgaged properties in negative equity (22% of the
total).

San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA, had the
highest percentage of mortgaged properties in a positive equity position, at
99.3%. Houston, then Denver followed
SF in that category.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Didn't you ever wish you could try out your
neighborhood - before buying your home there?

What a novel idea!:

Realtor.com’s new partnership with Airbnb, which launched in
June 2015, aims to allow just that.

A buyer thinking about buying in a specific neighborhood can
“try out” the area by renting a place for a few days through Airbnb.

Such recommended accommodation can be found
on realtor.com in the same area as the home listing they are viewing.“Real estate professionals are finding that
buyers are more likely to be happier if they are able to try out a neighborhood
before choosing to buy” says a Realtor.com spokesperson.

Checking out noise levels, culture, overall
vibes gives prospective condo and single-family home owners important
information as they make their decision.